Product Description

Kendall's managed to wrangle her grandmother's house-free and clear-except for the rules. No male roommates. But that's ok, with the right ad she'll pull in some girls, their rent and if she's lucky, she won't have to go to work any time soon.

For their part, Anna, Lelani, and Megan all have their reasons for wanting to move in: Anna has got to get out from under her overprotective parents; Lelani can't take another day in her aunt's tiny crackerbox house overflowing with toddlers and Megan needs a place free of her current roommate from Hades. Though they come with assorted extra baggage filled with broken hearts and dreams, they will discover they also have a vast array of hidden strengths.

Publisher's Description

Kendall's managed to wrangle her grandmother's housefree and clearexcept for the rules. No male roommates. But that's okay. With the right ad, she'll pull in some girls, their rent, and if she's lucky, she won't have to go to work anytime soon.

For their part, Anna, Lelani, and Megan all have their reasons for wanting to move in: Anna has got to get out from under her overprotective parents; Lelani can't take another day in her aunt's tiny crackerbox house overflowing with toddlers, and Megan needs a place free of her current roommate from Hades. Though they come with assorted extra baggage filled with broken hearts and dreams, they will discover they also have a vast array of hidden strengths.

Author Bio

Over the years, Melody Carlson has worn many hats, from pre-school teacher to youth counselor to political activist to senior editor. But most of all, she loves to write! Melody has published more than ninety books for children, teens, and adultswith sales totaling more than two million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. She lives in Central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. They enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping, and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.

Publisher's Weekly

Carlson, author of more than 100 books, begins her 86 Bloomberg Place series with a novel that functions mostly to set up future storylines. Three women rent rooms at 86 Bloomberg Place: Lelani Porter is a lovely half-Hawaiian with a secret; Megan Abernathy is a Christian flirting with depression; and Hispanic Anna Mendez is anxious to escape a smothering mother. The advertised luxurious house, owned by Barbie doll clone Kendall Weis, is disappointingly in need of updating, and in exchange for a rent reduction, they redecorate and renovate the run-down home. Kendall turns out to be the landlord from hell, with entitlement issues, an eating disorder, a shopping addiction and a slew of (too many) other problems. Its more than the trio bargained for, but nobly they try to be kind to Kendall. The Christian element is present in the story, but lightly handled. A subplot of young women gone missing seems at odds with the beauty makeovers and HGTV-type activities. Although Carlson is careful to explain the reasons behind Lelanis absence from her home in the islands, readers may find her seemingly unemotional abdication of responsibility difficult to swallow, while Kendalls character is one-dimensional. The novel ends abruptly without resolving enough loose endslikely picked up in book twobut leaving readers dissatisfied rather than intrigued. (Apr.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

While I enjoyed the book, I was a bit disappointed with the way it ended. I understand having a cliffhanger, but this seemed to fall off of the cliff, without warning. I'm happy to know there is q sequel. On the positive side, the list of characters are great and enjoyable. There stories are believable. I can't wait to see how they develope.